Well, At Least TSA Isn’t Driving People to Drink
“Everybody personally and professionally that I know who is afraid to fly gets their hands on Xanax,” said Jeanne Scala, a psychotherapist in Roxbury, N.J., adding that she has seen an increase in patients and friends talking about taking medication for flying jitters. “They’ll do anything to take the edge off the anxiety of sitting in a plane,’’ she said. “They just want to zone out, they want to sleep. So they’ll take Ambien, Sonata, even pain medication like Soma, which is for back pain. People use whatever they have — the pharmacy in their house.”
“You Are Cleared For Takeoff,” The New York Times.
In case it’s not obvious, I’m posting out of sheer glee that TSA is driving people to illegal drug use as they work to make flying as unpleasant safe as they can, and for the phrase “the pharmacy in their house.” What a great image. Its too bad you can’t go to the drugstore and buy the drugs you want, but that’s not the TSA’s fault. A different government agency screws that one up.
Maybe the drug companies are with the terrorists? Shove some more anti-depressants down the population’s throat?
Man: “I’m afraid of flying”.
Doc: “Prozac. Twice a day… just in case you decide to fly on a whim.”
Ah, what happened to the old days when those scared of flying would simply get sauced on the flight with those cute little bottles of booze? It worked for our parents generation… Are we saying that the TSA has made things SO bad that drinking doesn’t cut it anymore, or that our generation needs stronger numbing agents than our folks did?
Sad but true, booze no longer cuts it as liquid courage for our age.
Not to mention that booze is costly: $5 per tiny bottle for those of us who fly coach? If you have one drink an hour to maintain a mild buzz, that’s $30 to easy your pain flying across the country. If your drugs are covered by a copay, they’ll be a lot less expensive than that.